


Femslash100100 Collection

by fall_into_life



Category: Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Community: femslash100, Community: femslash100100, F/F, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Introspection, Slow Burn, Word Count: 200, Worldbuilding, unreliable narrators
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-19 20:25:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 8,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4759817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fall_into_life/pseuds/fall_into_life
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Exactly what it says on the tin. Pairings, characters, and tags will be updated as I go along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 001. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; One-sided Yuna/Paine

Yuna jolts awake, sweat pouring down her face and a trembling, horrible lightness in her limbs. It's been a month since he died, and she still dreams of him, still dreams of his laugh and his smile and his final goodbye.

She curls in on herself, wrapping her arms around her knees, and dips her chin into the space between. It's a weak, childish position, but she can allow that to herself now. She doesn't have to pretend she's not afraid of the future, not any more.

[*]

When dawn breaks and no one will look askance at her wandering, Yuna leaves her hut and heads toward the docks.

There's a new ship there, and the first mate catches Yuna's attention. She's muscular, lithe, with wine-red eyes, silver hair, and an air of competence. She doesn't shy away from meeting Yuna's gaze, or look to her with reverent eyes, and it's more attractive than she wants to admit.

"Hi," Yuna offers when the woman comes onto the dock. "I'm Yuna." She hasn't had to introduce herself in months, but in this moment, it feels necessary.

"Paine," replies the first mate. She turns away without a second glance, and Yuna is lost.


	2. 002. Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

She's not the only one with a dead lover. It's more common than not. Crusaders went to war against Sin, but they were never the only ones who died.

The Besaid villagers understand as much as anyone can, and they leave her to her grief. Lulu coaxes her out on long, winding walks where they talk about nothing at all. She spends the time thinking of him. Wakka talks her into watching the Aurochs practice for next season. The players practice his trademark shot when they think she isn't looking. It aches and aches and aches in a place just under her breastbone, where she can feel him sometimes when she's in the hazy place between dream and reality. She stops going on walks. She stops watching the Aurochs. She can't do it.

Spirans have a saying: "When the heart breaks, pieces are lost." Yuna thought she understood after her father died. She thinks now that she didn't understand at all then.

When the new boat comes in, when the first mate turns away without a second thought, Yuna thinks maybe she just wasn't looking for some of the pieces she thought she'd lost. She thinks she'd like to start.


	3. 003. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Rikku

The new boat has only been there for a day when Yuna spots the Fahrenheit in the distance. The timing is strange, but Rikku and Brother don't have a set schedule; they tend to come check up on her whenever they've finished something. They always come with new stories, but to Yuna's shame she isn't always paying attention. These days, her mind is lost in old stories.

Rikku comes sliding down one of the chains, with Brother in hot pursuit. She's not entirely sure why he comes, if she's honest. He never says anything to her or anything else, just haunts the fringes. Rikku, though, immediately throws her arms around Yuna, grinning like her cousin isn't a fragment of the woman she got to know on their journey.

"Hey, Yunie!" She's always so bright. "We found this _crazy_ new set of ruins just outside of Luca, you won't believe it--"

Yuna tries to pay attention to Rikku's chatter, but her eyes keep sliding down to the docks.

"Anyway, what's new with you?" Rikku always asks her that, even though the answer is the same.

This time, though:

"I think I'm going on a journey," Yuna says.

Rikku's jaw drops.


	4. 004. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Paine, Yuna

Paine can see grief from a thousand paces away. It has claws deep within Yuna.

She's not surprised. Yuna went into the Calm Lands with six guardians, and returned to Bevelle with four. It isn't the worst loss Paine has ever seen - wasn't even before the Mushroom Rock Massacre - but pain doesn't stop just because other have it worse. Most summoners accept some sort of comfort or guidance after they come home, but rumor says Yuna doesn't leave her house unless it's with one of her former guardians.

What Paine generally needs more time to find out is secrets. Everyone has them, but they rarely matter. They're personal, private, petty. Most people's secrets could be shouted from the highest building in Luca, and no one would care except the (former) keeper. Yuna, though, has the potential for world-shaking secrets. She supposedly killed the unkillable, and while people are desperately not asking questions, Paine thinks Yuna has the answers. A thousand-year riddle doesn't get solved by accident.

So when Yuna comes to the captain with a proposal, Paine quietly backs her up. Secrets have a way of coming loose after time, and Paine wants to be there when this one does.


	5. 005. Goals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

Yuna has been adrift for months. She lived the first seventeen years of her life with a path laid in mithril, one with clear steps. Become a summoner. Gain the approval of each aeon. Travel to Zanarkand. Defeat Sin.

It was never possible for there to be anything afterwards, so she never thought about it. There were dreams sometimes, of what it might be like to fall in love, or have children, but she tried to leave them behind as quickly as she could. The stories of what happened in Zanarkand were scarce, but they all agreed-- a summoner who entered with regrets died without the Final Aeon.

Now there's an after. Now it _is_ after, and even if she wanted to go back to the teachings - the teachings she still hasn't told anyone were false; she keeps trying and the words stick in her throat - there's nothing that talks of what happens if a summoner lives after defeating Sin. It wasn't possible. Until her.

So, Yuna makes her own goals. Find out more about Paine. Explore the world. Find her place, or if she can't find one, _make_ it.

They're good goals. She thinks he would approve.


	6. 006. Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Rikku, Yuna, Paine

Rikku doesn't do thinky-thoughts. It's not that she's thoughtless - thanks not very much, blonde jokes for the past sixteen years - but she does better with stuff she can touch. She thinks more in shapes and concepts than words most of the time, and growing up speaking two languages means when she _does_ use her words, sometimes they come out in the language they weren't supposed to. She doesn't care much. Among the Al Bhed, actions speak louder than words anyway.

But she doesn't need to think real deep to see why Yuna likes the Ramuh's first mate. Paine's got old hurt written all over her, hurt that's been bandaged but still hasn't healed. Yuna's... in the same boat.

And really, anything that gets Yuna looking like she cares again? That's a way good thing.

So, Rikku backs her up. Yuna says the captain said he'll think about taking her on, and Rikku shimmy-shimmies her way over to him when no one's looking. She flirts a little, leans over the counter, pretends she doesn't see him looking-- and bam. The next day, Yuna's back on the Fahrenheit, looking excited for the first time in _ages_.

All thanks to Rikku.


	7. 007. Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna

It's days before they let Yuna do anything.

In Besaid, the islanders were used to her. She still got a lot of grateful looks, but in the months she'd been back, they eased into something less formal. To the sailors, though, she's still a legend. It takes them a while to speak to her with anything less than stuttered respect, but they start taking cues from Paine, who just talks to Yuna like she's a person. It's... nice.

"How do you do that?" She asks one of the sailors in wonder, when Besaid has faded to nothing more than a memory of a smudge on the horizon. He's just scrambled down from the crow's nest, moving like no one she's seen outside of a blitzball stadium. It's not that she's never been on a boat, she just... had other concerns.

"Y'wanna learn?" He asks, grinning.

She blinks a few times. She likes it better when they talk to her this way, but she's not used to... this. Whatever this is. She's always been treated like... like glass. Like something fragile. Like she'd break if she ever tried climbing up the ship's rigging.

"Yes," she says, squaring her shoulders. "Teach me."


	8. 008. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Paine, Yuna

"Tell me again," Bottin says, crossing his arms over his chest, "why we took her on?"

Paine snorts. She can see why he's skeptical: Yuna's a distraction to the sailors, and nowhere near good enough at watercraft to make up for it. She's taken off her sleeve-bracers so she can scramble up to the crow's nest, and it's just more too-pale skin on display for the mostly-male crew.

"Because your _best friend_ left us in Luca," Paine drawls, rolling her eyes, "and he was our healer."

The captain sighs. "Right. Can you do something about--" He gestures to where Yuna's started going up the rigging, "--that?"

"Do _you_ want to try giving the Eternal Summoner orders?"

Another sigh. Bottin rubs the back of his head. "How soon does she leave?"

Bright, happy laughter drifts down to them. Two of the sailors have started playing tag, and they keep inviting Yuna to join them with enthusiastically waved hands. She shakes her head, and turns them down. Their grins only get bigger, and whatever they say makes her laugh. It's rusty, like she hasn't done it in a very long time. So is her smile.

"Not soon enough," Paine lies.


	9. 009. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna

Yuna knows how to swim. She's even learned a little bit about diving. She's not sure why that always surprises people. She grew up on Besaid, which is all coastline and ruins. She wasn't allowed into the ruins, but Besaid islanders learned to swim as soon as they could walk, and they'd been horrified when they found out she never learned as a child.

When the sailors let her try under their skeptical watch, she surprises them by flitting in and out of the water. She grew up with blitzballers; she knows a few things most people don't.

She also surprises herself. She didn't have time for it after she started training, but she remembers swimming a lot as a child. She didn't remember liking it so much.

She ends up spending a lot of time in the water. During her journey they all learned a little bit of each other's skills, and she can channel lightning well enough to go fishing the way Lulu used to. It's nice, feeling useful again. No one's gotten hurt so far, but every night, they have fish that she caught, and it heals over something in her that she didn't realize was hurting.


	10. 010. Selfish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine
> 
> These chapters are done in multiples of 200. That usually means 200, but this one felt like it needed 400.

There's another reason Yuna goes swimming as much as she does.

She likes it, of course, and she doesn't enjoy fishing but she likes feeding people. And also... there's Paine. Whenever Yuna comes out of the ocean, exhilarated and dripping all over the deck, there's a flash of something in Paine's eyes. Yuna doesn't know what it is, but she thinks she likes it. It's... hungry, almost, a little dark, and deeper than it looks at first. Paine hides herself so well most of the time, but for just a second, when Yuna first comes back on-board, it's there, that thing she doesn't know how to describe.

She doesn't realize what it is until they dock at Killika. 

There's the usual crowd of spouses, family, merchants, dockhands, and the curious, but there are also a few lone women who don't make sense to her at first. They're carefully painted, and dressed suggestively, but it doesn't click for her until one approaches one of the Ramuh's sailors. His eyes sharpen, he straightens up, and swaggers over to her. She smiles in welcome, laughs when he bows to her overdramatically. Money changes hands, and they disappear in the direction of the inn.

She's not naive, which is another thing it always surprises people to find out. She knows the ways of men and women, knows that sometimes those ways are used for business instead of love and pleasure. She just... didn't think of it, with Paine. It's partially because she's a woman - and Yuna is still not naive, she knows that some women keep the company of women, and some men the company of men - but mostly because no one who knows who she is looks at her that way. Even... even with him, it was only a hint, buried under so many other emotions that sometimes she wondered if she imagined it. Paine is much more blunt about it, when it happens. It's... Yuna doesn't know what exactly to think about it, but she doesn't mind.

It doesn't bother Yuna as much as it maybe should. It's a little selfish, since she doesn't plan on ever returning the attention. She can barely think of her last - her only - lover, she doesn't want another. It's nice, though, to know someone looks at her that way, thinks of her that way. Paine never says a word, never acts, and Yuna lets her look.


	11. 011. Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna

Killika comes as a shock.

As he did in Besaid, the captain gives everyone a few days ashore. Paine slips into the village between one heartbeat and the next, and most of the sailors go ashore with a wink or a friendly word for Yuna. There's no reason for her to stay aboard, and one of her goals was to find out how Spira was doing, so Yuna ventures into Killika.

It's not the rebuilding that bothers her. She aches for the dead, for the memories of the beautiful buildings that once stood, but life is for the living. She wants them to go on, to make the use of the time they've been granted.

It's the temple.

She has to fight her way to Killika Temple, use the knife she usually forgets she has to cut her way through the jungle. When she gets there, it's... well.

Abandoned is the kindest word she can think of. The fayth may no longer be with them, but it's wrong, she thinks, wrong to disregard their sacrifices as if they never were.

Another goal gets added to the list. She's going to do something about this. She just doesn't know what, yet.


	12. 012. Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna

Yuna settles in aboard the Ramuh. It's another thing people wouldn't think of her, but she grew up around groups of men. Boys, really. First the ones she grew up with: Wakka, Chappu, and their boyhood friends. Then the blitzball players the two of them trained or found over the years, the Aurochs. She had Lulu and Rikku with her on her journey, but also Auron, Kimahri, Wakka, and... him. Even upon her return to Besaid, the blitzballers and former Crusaders were the ones who felt comfortable enough to talk to her.

The sailors slowly relax around her. She never gets very good at the day-to-day running the ship kind of things, but they teach her how to be the lookout, and what the names of everything are. One night, when the captain is locked in his cabin pouring over maps, and Paine is on night watch, they teach her a few card games. She knows the simple ones from her childhood, but these are new. They sneak her sips of their watered-down rum, and she can't remember the last time she laughed so hard. It's wonderful.

It feels like a fresh start, and she regrets nothing about leaving home.


	13. 013. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

The end to Yuna's time on the Ramuh comes as abruptly as it started.

"You're leaving?"

Paine eyes Yuna. She has her heavy, single-edged sword strapped across her back. Yuna has only seen it once, when she went out into Killika. With less deaths, Spira is less dangerous, and they hadn't seen a single fiend in the entirety of their journey. Paine carries it like it's an old friend.

"My contract with Bottin was only until Luca," Paine says. She waves a hand to the docks around them. "And now we're here."

"What's in Luca?" Yuna asks, mind racing. She wouldn't say she's gotten to know Paine well while she's been on-board, but there's a connection there. She knows she isn't just imagining it, and knows it isn't one-sided.

Paine draws out a sigh. "A lead on a sphere. High-risk, high-reward."

"And you're going alone?" Yuna asks, frowning.

"I can take care of myself." There's an edge to Paine's voice, one Yuna can understand all too well.

"It's dangerous to go alone," Yuna says, "you'd do better with a healer."

"I've got plenty of potions."

"I know black magic," Yuna says. It's not what Lulu would think of as true black magic, just the basic spells, but it's more than most people can do.

"So do I," Paine says flatly.

Yuna takes a deep breath. Now that Spira has a future, it's started becoming invested in the past, and the spheres cropping up everywhere are part of that. She knows that Rikku and Brother have dipped into sphere hunting from time to time, and while it sounds dangerous, it also sounds interesting. She wants to be the one coming to Rikku with new stories this time, and she likes Paine. She was determined enough to fight Sin, she can get one swordswoman to give her a fair chance.

"I don't pay for any of my inn stays." It's not something she likes to think about, but innkeepers will not let her hand them even a single gil. She knows from Auron's stories that inns like to raise the prices for strangers, and more so if they look like warriors. Paine, with her hard stare and battle scars, would get the highest prices they thought they could get away with.

"Fine," Paine says finally, "just don't get in my way."

Yuna smiles, and lets the other woman lead her into Luca.


	14. 014. Misunderstanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

Luca's town square is packed. Paine makes her way through the crowd, shouldering in where she can, throwing elbows where she has to. Yuna bites the inside of her cheek, but says nothing.

The man behind the desk at the Dancing Chocobo nearly falls out of his seat when he sees her. "Milady Summoner!"

She smiles, and if it's strained, he doesn't notice.

"I-- will you be staying the night?"

"If that's alright?" She hadn't thought about it, but she's no longer a summoner on pilgrimage, or fresh from fighting Sin. She just... well. She would rather pay for the room than have it gifted anyway, and so long as Paine isn't paying for the room, Yuna is sure she won't go back on her word.

"Of course! It's just... we're so full because of the exhibition match... we only have rooms with one bed! I'm so sorry!"

"That's fine," Yuna says, relieved. She's shared a bed with Rikku or Lulu plenty of times.

The man blinks for a few seconds, then nods. "Of course."

He hands them the keys, and they head upstairs.

"Well," Paine says, "that's going to be awkward in the morning."

Yuna frowns, but doesn't ask.


	15. 015. Misunderstanding II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Paine, Yuna
> 
> This was supposed to be "Christmas", but the world of Spira doesn't do Christmas.

In the morning, Paine hangs back a little bit, lets Yuna walk out first. If she's right - she's pretty sure she is - this is going to be amusing.

Sure enough, the innkeeper stands up as soon as they get into the lobby, and bows deeply. "Thank you so much, Lady Yuna, for you and your wife honoring us with your stay!"

Paine can't see Yuna's face, but she can watch her shock backwards, shoulders coming forward.

"Wh-what?"

The innkeeper straightens up. "We were unaware of your marriage, but would like to offer our sincere congratulations!"

Yuna stutters a little, and Paine steps forward, taking pity on her.

"She's shy, and we haven't told anyone yet," she says, forcefully holding back a smirk. "We'd appreciate it if you kept it to yourself."

"Of course!"

Yuna squeaks, and Paine lays a hand on her shoulder to steer her out of the inn. When they emerge into the square, Yuna turns to her, bewildered.

"They'd never believe you if you said we weren't together," Paine shrugs. "This is easier."

Yuna frowns. "You think so?"

Paine nods. "Yeah." She doesn't mention that the innkeeper won't keep it to himself; that would ruin the fun.


	16. 016. Shoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Paine, Yuna

Yuna no longer carries a staff. It's part of why Paine was initially skeptical about her. The staff she carried when she fought Sin was a beautiful thing: perfectly made, balanced; Paine has only seen the replicas sold to Calm Lands tourists, but even those couldn't completely mangle the weapon.

There are plenty of summoners who never carried a weapon, but they always had an aeon to call on. Yuna has no weapon, no aeons, and it's clear black magic isn't her best skill. To Paine, disarming yourself like that is a statement: Yuna's given up on fighting. Paine doesn't doubt that she'd defend herself, but she's lost her fighter's edge, the state of mind that lets you walk into fiend-infested places and walk back out again.

Paine steers them closer to the weapon-and-armor shop. She doesn't need anything, but she's hoping Yuna will step inside, maybe remember that she needs a way to defend herself. It isn't that Paine couldn't take care of Yuna while they're on the hunt, it's that she doesn't want to have to babysit.

Yuna heads into the armor shop - good start - and begins looking at boots. Paine sighs. It's gonna be a long trip.


	17. 017. Excuses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine
> 
> This prompt was supposed to be "Cars", but the world of Spira doesn't have cars, so instead this is Excuses I, and the next part will be Excuses II.

They're halfway across the blitzball stadium when Paine asks, "why don't you carry a staff?"

Yuna nearly stumbles over her own feet, and she turns to Paine with a frown. "What?"

"You used to carry one," Paine says, not seeming to notice her stumble. "Nirvana, one of the Sacred Seven."

Yuna's not sure which surprises her more, that a sailor/sphere hunter knows that legend, or that she knows Yuna carried one. They'd found them all, before the end, when they'd been desperately searching for a third solution. They were necessary, to fight Sin and win.

"I don't need it any more," Yuna says, tilting her head.

Paine tilts her own head in response. "You don't?"

Yuna frowns, not liking the look on Paine's face. "Are we sphere-hunting in... Zanarkand?"

Paine shakes her head.

"Then no, I don't. Most fiends don't need something like... Nirvana. Besides..." Yuna can feel her smile stretching too-wide, but she can't stop it. Nirvana is... she doesn't need it. The Sacred Seven are weapons of war, and Spira is at peace. "...I'm sure we'll do fine."

Paine eyes her. Yuna doesn't think she's fooled.

"Whatever," Paine mutters, and stalks forward. Yuna hurries to catch up.


	18. 018. Excuses II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Paine, Yuna

Paine hasn't asked why Yuna came onto the Ramuh, why she followed Paine off of it. It's none of her business. Healing arts are too rare to look a gift healer in the mouth, and Yuna is the best in the world.

Paine does wonder, that she can admit. By all accounts, Yuna hasn't left Besaid Island since the defeat of Sin. She didn't attend her own parade in Bevelle. She hasn't visited any of the islands, or Luca. She looked surprised about the exhibition match in Luca, even though it's a grudge match and two of her old guardians were professional blitzers. She's been out of touch, in a place out of time. Then, suddenly, she gets on a little smuggler ship, when her cousin's airship was right at hand. Gets the cousin to talk the captain into it, too, though looking back at it, Paine can believe Yuna doesn't know about that.

And then following Paine on her sphere hunt. She's can't be hurting for money, and she's more famous than anyone else ever has been. Paine doesn't know what her angle is, but she'll let her stick around until she finds out. Couldn't hurt, she tells herself.


	19. 019. Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

Paine's contact is a man so striking that Yuna almost can't believe it. He's so... pretty. Pretty is really the only word for it, though beautiful comes close, and she tries not to look too directly at him. He makes her uncomfortable, but she knows it's not his fault. She tries to smile, but he doesn't so much as look at her. He steps forward, smirking and winding his way around Paine.

"Look who came back out of the woodwork," he purrs, his eyes skating over her. He moves to her left side, and from this angle, Yuna can see that his eyes miss hers. "Paine, Paine, Paine, where _have_ you been?"

"Busy," Paine says shortly. Yuna thinks of her as guarded, but this is almost... hostile. She's bristling, and one of her hands hovers near where Yuna knows she keeps a knife hidden in her belt. "What's this about a sphere?"

"Straight to the main event?" He stops circling when he's at her right side. "I should have known you'd skip the foreplay."

"Hasuo."

He rolls his eyes. "Fine. You're looking for an Al Bhed named Eigaar, he'll be at the Mushroom Rock Temple."

"One of the Psyche's players?" Yuna can't help but ask.

"It's the off season," Hasuo says, off-hand and dismissive. "He still has to pay his rent."

Paine snorts. "By being one of your informants. What's the price on this referral?"

Hasuo resumes his circling, "you could always--"

Paine's look is more than sharp enough to cut.

"--hand over a thousand gil and we'll call it even."

"A _thousand_?" Paine raises an eyebrow. "I wouldn't pay two hundred for that."

They start haggling, which is something Yuna never got the hang of doing. When something had to be haggled over, Lulu handled it, or later, Rikku. Lulu uses her no-nonsense nature and knowledge of prices to haggle, Rikku flirts and points out flaws in the merchandise. Paine... Paine threatens, and rolls her eyes a lot. Yuna's not sure how much of a discount she's really getting, but it works, somehow.

"C'mon," Paine says, slapping a roll of bills in Hasuo's hand, "we're leaving."

"Was there... something wrong with him?" Yuna asks, when they're out of earshot.

Paine looks at her sidelong. "Failed black magic experiment. He's more ice than man."

Like touching your bare fingers to permafrost, Yuna thinks, ice so cold it burns.


	20. 020. Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

They end up catching another ship from Luca to a little fishing village just south of Mushroom Rock. They could walk, could take another part of Yuna's first journey across Spira but... Paine says this will be faster, that if Hasuo's told them, he's told another dozen people and they're now on a deadline. Yuna doesn't argue. She came because she didn't want to linger with her ghosts any more, not to chase more of them.

The first day of the journey goes smoothly. The captain had, of course, recognized Yuna and discounted her ride. He'd apologized for not being able to offer it for free, but Yuna had assured him she'd rather pay her way like anyone else. Paine had rolled her eyes and paid for her journey with labor. She's a better sailor than the others, Yuna thinks.

It's the second day where things go wrong.

The day is a little cloudy, but everyone seems to agree that a storm isn't on the horizon. The sun feels good on Yuna's face, and she wants to dive in the water, but Paine's eyes warn against it. Yuna doesn't necessarily disagree. This is a rougher crew than the one from the Ramuh.

In the blink of an eye, things go from pleasant to nightmarish. A dozen sahuagin, mindless fish-beasts, swarm onto the deck, jabbering and going straight for the sailors. Paine's sword is in her hand in an instant, and Yuna calls an incantation for lightning to her mind, only to freeze. The deck is so wet, and they've all been hit by spray over the course of the day. If she hits even one sahuagin with a lightning spell, will it arc out to the sailors? To Paine?

Water is no good, either, she thinks, as Paine slices her way through one of the fiends. Fire wouldn't help, and ice... ice would ice over the deck. Normally this is the part where she used her staff almost as a shield and waited until someone got hurt. One of the advantages to having so many guardians is that someone always knew what to do in whatever situation it was.

Paine, and one of the sailors with a knife, manage to kill all twelve, and they're nothing but the flicker of pyreflies dispersing into the air.

"Yuna?"

Yuna turns to Paine, taking a deep breath. "I think I need a staff."


	21. 021. Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T; Yuna

Yuna only realizes that she's become used to sleeping through the night when she fails.

For the first time since she left Besaid, she has nightmares. They start out with recent events - her electrocuting the sailors by accident, Paine being a little slower and being snatched by sahuagin - and backtrack from there. Her friends all dying to Sin. Her friends all dying to _Yunalesca_. Not challenging Yunalesca and continuing the cycle of death and rebirth and death again. Her father never bringing his Calm.

After the third time she wakes up panting and sweating, she gives up on sleep. Swinging her legs over the side of her bunk, she heads up to the deck.

The night watchman glances at her, but doesn't say a word. She'd be surprised if she were the only one he's ever seen get up in the middle of the night on shaky legs; sailing used to be the second-most dangerous job in Spira, right behind being a Crusader. Spiran sailors have seen things no one should ever have to.

She takes a deep breath of the salt air, leaning over the railing. Her father was Bevelle born and raised, but Yuna has always felt more at home near the sea. It's calming, somehow, even when Sin was out there somewhere. 

"Can't sleep?"

Paine is somehow more striking by moonlight. She's all pale skin and luminous red eyes. It reminds her of Lulu.

"Are you and Lulu related?" She doesn't mean to ask, but it's late, she's tired, and she's been wondering.

"Distant cousins," Paine says, then quirks an eyebrow. "She never told you?"

Yuna shakes her head. "I never asked."

"Mm," Paine turns, leaning backward against the railing. "She must be losing her edge."

Part of Yuna wants to bristle, to defend her sister-in-all-but-blood, but on second thought it's... not exactly an insult. There's no reason for her to have that kind of edge any more. ( _The way there's no reason for you to have a staff?_ asks part of her mind. Yuna pushes it away.) They're at peace, and fiend attacks are too rare to be constantly on-guard.

"As opposed to you?" Yuna asks instead. She regrets the words as soon as she says them, and opens her mouth to apologize.

Paine, though, just laughs. "Yeah, as opposed to me." A pause, then, "sleep well, Yuna."

She's gone before Yuna can reply.


	22. 022. Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T; Rikku

The thing is, Rikku likes people. She really, really does. And sometimes she likes people in ways that Yevonites don't really like her to like them. They had to accept girls who like girls and guys who like guys, 'cause Ohalland's husband refused to lie about their marriage (cute!), but they still don't like people being in bed with someone they're not married to. And Rikku is really not the marrying type. She's more the type to get caught in bed with someone's wife, and then spin a good time for everyone out of it. (Or someone's husband; she's not picky about which bits are involved in her fun times.)

Still, it's not always safe to do the naked, but she's never gotten run out of anywhere for kissing. And boy, does she like kissing. Long kisses, short kisses, kisses with tongue, kisses to her neck, her wrists, her stomach. She doesn't usually find someone who likes it as much as she does, but in this one she's found her match, and it's yummy. It's kinda sad, actually; if Yuna weren't still such a Yevonite, Rikku could tell her all about it next time.

Oh, well. More people for her.


	23. 023. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Paine, Yuna

"I'm sorry."

Paine turns to Yuna with a raised eyebrow. The other woman apologizes a lot, she's noticed, but this one feels more real than the others. Heavier. Like she's invested in this one.

"For what?" Paine raises an eyebrow.

"For asking about you and Lulu," Yuna says, hands clasped in front of her. Her mismatched eyes are too sincere. Paine looks away. "It was none of my business."

Paine jerks a shoulder, restraining an eyeroll. She's tense for no real reason; it's just Yuna. "If I don't want to answer a question, I'll let you know."

Yuna hesitates, rocks back on the balls of her feet. Paine sighs.

"Something else?"

Something flickers over Yuna's face, too quickly for Paine to catch. It's strange; normally Yuna is easy to read. Now Paine wonders if she's so good at hiding that she only shows what she wants. It's unlikely, but a lot of things about Yuna are. Like her taking on any part of this journey they're on.

"No," Yuna says, even though it sounds like _'yes'_. "I'm... going to go abovedeck."

Paine watches her go. Still waters. They always run deep right when you need them to stay shallow.


	24. 024. Wet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

They get to the docks just as a storm hits. Paine's off the ship in a flash like she's a cat more than a person, all offended pride in the face of getting rained on. Yuna feels her mouth quirk up at one end. Worse than Rikku, definitely.

(She wonders what Rikku's up to, if she's having fun exploring all Spira's secrets. Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't know when she'll see her again. The Al Bhed don't have Home any more, and if Rikku or Brother have a house landside, they haven't mentioned it. She could always go back to Besaid and wait for her to come around, but... but it would feel like quitting. She's not ready to go back. Not yet.)

Yuna doesn't mind getting rained on, so she follows a little slower. Paine's already inside the village's one inn, leaning against the doorframe and glaring out at the storm as if it's offended her. She's... very pretty.

"Ready?" She asks. She sounds irritated, but Yuna doesn't think it's at her.

"Ready," Yuna nods. She'll keep her opinion to herself; she's already been pushing Paine lately.

(Still, she's cute when she's bristling at the rain.)


	25. 025. Careless I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Rikku, Gippal
> 
> The prompt was supposed to be 'brown sugar', but I'm not entirely sure they have that in Spira, and it didn't fit with the narrative. So this is Careless I, and the next chapter will be Careless II.

Rikku will forever swear that this isn't her fault.

Okay, maybe a little. It's just... she faced down the biggest bad on Spira and lived to talk about it, y'know? She wasn't the only one, but she was there. It's hard to care about a few shell-heads when that's on her resume.

'Course, she thought there would be a _few_ , not... um, however many there are. She lost count after the first twenty.

Rikku's pretty good at this whole fighting thing, but Brother isn't. By herself, she could have slipped away by now, or mixed up a little something. With him, she's too busy watching his back to even think of it.

Just when she's getting worried, there's a big _boom_ and pyreflies everywhere. A tall blonde man runs in, with enough backup to make the shell-heads into dust.

"Need a little help, there, Princess?" He drawls, once the fiends are nothing but craters.

She snorts and rolls her eyes. "I had it."

"I'm sure you did," he says, bowing, "I was just there for emotional support."

"Darn right you were," she says. He winks in return.

(She falls a little bit in love with him right then.)


	26. 026. Careless II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T; Rikku, Gippal; implied sexual content
> 
> I'm not tagging this underage because for one, it's all implied and not explicit, and for two, Rikku and Gippal are 17. 17 is legal age of consent in much of the world. Still, if that bothers you, take care of yourself; this isn't going to be the only chapter in which 17 year-olds are implied to have sex.

Mr. Emotional Support's name is Gippal. He lost an eye during Operation Mi'ihen, fought at Home until his best friend forced him to evacuate, and really, really likes machina. He insists they be called 'machines' now, and spins her a vision of a Machine Faction based out of Djose.

"Everyone's welcome," he says, sprawled out across one of the couches in Rikku's Fahrenheit room. "Al Bhed, Guado-- whoever wants to advance machines? They can come."

Something about it shoots straight to her heart. He really, really believes it. He doesn't say it, but he means another home for them, for the Al Bhed. And she's not always the forgiving type, but she likes that he doesn't carry a grudge. The Guado made their mistakes and they paid for it-- are still paying for it. She doesn't think the open-minded ones should suffer because of the others.

Hours later, he gets up from the couch, stretches his arms over his head. "I should get going."

"Or," Rikku says, moving to stand right in front of him, "you could stay."

He grins. "Oh, but where would I sleep?"

She gives him a look, tilts her head.

"Fair enough," he laughs, and stays.


	27. 027. Homesickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Paine

Sometimes, when the rains hit just wrong - cold, too cold - or start to slush into snow, loss hits Paine right in the gut. It's a sick, roiling feeling, assaulting her with half-remembered buildings and snatches of her parents' faces. There's a reason she doesn't go to Besaid of her own free will, or stay long when she does. 

They're never going to talk about it, and that's the way she _wants_ it, but sometimes Paine wonders about Lulu in the dark of night. Does she have to battle with grief every time she sees Paine, sees red eyes and too-pale skin and remembers that they're the last? Would she reach out if Paine let her? Does she keep the old gods, far away from judging eyes, or has she become a Yevonite and let them go? She dresses like Paine remembers them, black and leather and death. She's a legendary black mage, one Paine would learn from if she weren't who she was.

It's... good, even when it hurts. To know something of their island remains even now. To know someone else keeps the lamps lit for what they used to be. They're all that's left, but it's enough.


	28. 028. Socks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T; Rikku, Gippal

Rikku knows about the "oh I left something at your place, can I come get it?" move. It's one of her favorites. Always sounds like a good excuse, almost always ends in repeat naked times.

Right now, though? She's not really sure what's going on.

Her favorite things to leave somewhere are belts and spare weapons. Stuff that would be nice to get back, but she could live without. It looks like Gippal disagrees with her, though, because what he's left, stuffed under her bed, are... socks. If not for the part where it's pretty hard to forget socks with _those_ kinds of boots, Rikku would think it was an accident. But she's worn those kinds of boots and yeah, there's no way he doesn't know she has them.

It's just... socks? She's going to go down to Djose just to make fun of him, mark her words.

(Which means it worked, she guesses. She would have thought he was crazy if he'd left a gun with her 'cause he only carries two, and the rest of his outfit isn't really removable. He might just be her match when it comes to getting a second round of naked times.)


	29. 029. Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

Yuna is only comfortable during the summers, if she's honest.

She grew up in Besaid, which only gets a dusting of snow once or twice every few years, and some morning frost in the depths of winter. The rest of the year, it's warm, sunny, and occasionally rainy. She's lucky most of Spira's population is in the tropics, she knows.

Paine doesn't seem to agree. Despite not really wearing much, she sticks to the shady parts of paths, grumbles whenever there aren't any, and seems more relaxed when the temperatures are lower. Yuna isn't really sure why she was in the islands during the summer, even for a job.

It's... she hates to compare them too much, but it's a little like Lulu. She adapted to Besaid, but she was the most at home of all of them - Kimahri included - when they went into Mt. Gagazet, and didn't seem bothered by the chill in Zanarkand. Yuna wonders: was it cold where they're from? Or is it just that they both like the cold? She can't ask - not really - so she waits, and watches. Paine doesn't talk much, but Yuna is still figuring her out. She has time. She can wait.


	30. 030. Author's Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

"We're almost there," Yuna says, when the craggy landscape of Mushroom Rock Road comes into view.

Paine grunts in response. She draws her single-edged sword, keeps it in one hand as they walk. Normally it stays sheathed on her back, at hand but out of sight. Yuna doesn't like to assume, but something about Mushroom Rock has her on edge, and Yuna doesn't think it's getting closer to meeting Eigaar. She wants to ask: did she lose someone in Operation Mi'ihen? Was she there? Yuna would have remembered meeting someone like Paine, but there were a lot of people there. If Paine had been in a Crusader uniform, she might not have spotted her silver hair or wine-red eyes. 

They make it all the way to the Mushroom Rock Temple without Paine saying a single word.

It isn't a temple Yuna is familiar with. She visited all the active temples in Spira while on her summoner's journey, but the Mushroom Rock Temple's fayth was gone long before she left Besaid. She's surprised they're supposed to find Eigaar here, and says as much when they arrive.

"With Sin gone, people are exploring," Paine says shortly, which makes sense. No Sin means no sinspawn, and less people dying without rites means less fiends. Eigaar didn't seem like a fighter to her, but he was fast, so he doesn't have to be.

Paine pauses when they get to the entrance, looking at Yuna sidelong. "Are we going to have a problem?"

Yuna frowns, tilting her head. "Pardon?"

"The Psyches kidnapped you in Luca last year," Paine says. Yuna's not sure how she knows about that, since her guardians handled it quietly. She doesn't think the Psyches would admit to it, but one of the Aurochs might have said something last season. Blitzballers talk a lot, especially the ones who don't know the locker rooms have connected air vents.

Yuna shakes her head. It hadn't even crossed her mind to hold a grudge. The blitzball tournament had been the excuse, but she knows the Al Bhed were kidnapping summoners to keep her safe. They weren't rough with her, and she knocked a few of them pretty good on her way out. As far as she's concerned, they're even.

"No," she says, shaking her head. "It's fine."

Paine's raised eyebrow says she doesn't believe her, but she doesn't say anything, just leads the way inside.


	31. 031. August

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine
> 
> au·gust  
> adjective  
> respected and impressive.

There's something infinitely sad about Spira's ruined temples.

Mushroom Rock Temple is silent except for the echo of their footsteps, the temple swallowing the sound. All around them, it crumbles, the smell of damp stone threaded into the air. Yuna thinks she sees part of a statue of Yunalesca, and quickly turns her head. This place deserves better, deserves... reverence. Respect. Like Killika, it's been forgotten.

Paine doesn't look at any of it. She powers through, every line of her body tense. Yuna purses her lips.

(Yuna wants to ask her about it, wants to help, but Paine hasn't said a word, and Yuna has her own ghosts. She didn't realize how used to her guardians she'd become until she no longer had them. Lulu and Wakka would be steady at her back. Rikku would be poking into something. Auron and Kimahri would settle at the fringes, ever-watchful. And as for him, he would be...)

"Yuna."

Paine eyes her, jerks her head towards one of the doors. Yuna nods.

(He would be _here_. Alive, and vibrant, and laughing at something. Her anchor, her rock.

But he isn't, and all she has is Paine. She'll make do. She always has.)


	32. 32. Cover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

Eigaar isn't alone.

There's a workshop set up here. The walls between have been knocked down, and more space hollowed out. Yuna thinks that the Yevonites would be offended, but she isn't, can't be. The temples were meant to be used.

"Eigaar," Paine says, cutting through the noise of the Al Bhed working.

The man looks up. His face is covered, but Yuna can see recognition in the way he cocks his head.

"Paine," he says, walking over.

They start talking in rapid Al Bhed. Rikku has taught her some over the years, but not enough for this. After a few moments, money changes hands, and Paine looks back to Yuna.

"What... is all this?" She asks softly, looking from Paine to Eigaar.

"They're using Mushroom Rock Temple to salvage the machina from Operation Mi'ihen," Paine says. "And from there--"

"Paine," Eigaar says again, folding his arms over his chest.

Paine rolls her eyes. "Whatever. It's a front. Gippal's been hanging around."

"Gippal?" Yuna asks, not recognizing the name.

Paine purses her lips. "Eigaar says our sphere is further north. Let's go."

Yuna wonders when she'll start getting answers to the questions that have piled up since she left Besaid.


	33. 033. Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T; Paine
> 
> Paine being angsty and introspective; nothing new here.

The Yevonites believe that Sin was their punishment for their sins. For using machina, for becoming lazy. For a lot of things that were done over a thousand years ago. When Sin died, there was a lot of noise about thanking Yuna for it, about her finally having delivered them from their sins.

It's all bullshit.

Any god who forces a thousand years of penitence on his followers, punishes them for 'sins' that their far, far distant ancestors committed... is a god that Paine doesn't want to acknowledge. She doesn't - can't - deny that only Yevonites seem to be able to call on the fayth, but they also haven't let anyone else try. Maybe if they'd let a Ronso, a Guado, an Al Bhed become summoner, they could have had an Eternal Calm sooner.

Or maybe they all would have died.

(In the dark of night, Paine believes in punishment. This is what she deserves for what she is, for what she's done. She'll wander eternally, like the cursed heroes of the old legends, never to find peace.

Then she wakes up, scoffs at herself, and carries on.

One day, it won't work. She refuses to think about what happens then.)


	34. 034. Second Person

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine

Sometimes, Yuna composes her thoughts as a letter to a man who will never get to read them.

_'You would like what the Al Bhed are doing,'_ she thinks. _'They welcome everyone-- even Guado. As long as they want to study machina - they call them machines now - they're given a wrench. Or a drill. Sometimes a gun, but not often. With fiends being so rare, not everyone needs to carry a weapon like that. Most people still do, though.'_

Paine leads them back through the temple.

_'I think... I think they're right, to use the temples. They need using, or they'll fall apart. They deserve better than this._

They start heading northeast. Yuna frowns, but doesn't ask. The tension slowly drains out of Paine's shoulders as they go.

_'You would like Paine, I think. She's a little grumpy, but a good person. And she's been... taking care of me._

(In her way. When Yuna lets her.)

_'I wish you could see what Spira is becoming.'_ She finishes her mental letter without signing it. She never does. It feels too final.

"Yuna." Paine calls.

"Oh!" Yuna realizes the other woman has pulled ahead of her. "Coming!"


	35. 035. Double

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G; Yuna, Paine, Rikku

Before they leave the area, they stop at a shop just outside of Mushroom Rock, and Yuna buys a staff. It's not her Nirvana, or even some of the staves they found in Spira's hidden places, but it's sturdy, and fits well in her hands.

She doesn't know where Nirvana is. Onion Knight lives in Lulu's hut, and World Champion hangs above Wakka's bed. Rikku has Godhand stashed away somewhere, and Kimahri took Spirit Lance with him back to Mt. Gagazet. But Nirvana... Lulu would know. Yuna doesn't need it.

(She doesn't think about Masamune, or Caladbolg. They're... they're taken care of. That's all she needs to know.)

They're barely out of the shop when Yuna nearly falls over, a solid weight plowing into her side. She looks down to see a shock of blonde hair, threaded through with colorful braids.

"What--"

"There you are!" Rikku grins, looking up from where she has arms wrapped around Yuna's ribcage. She straightens up, wiggling a bit from side to side. "I heard you were nosing around Mushroom Rock."

Yuna tilts her head. Warmth blooms in her chest. "So you came looking?"

"We-ell I figured you could use some company!" Rikku nudges Yuna's shoulder with her knuckles. (There's a claw on her hip. It's not Godhand.) "So Brother and me-- _he-ey_."

Rikku spots Paine, and steps around Yuna. She moves like a cat, all playful grace before the pounce. "Yunie, you never told me she was _cute_."

Yuna turns, the warmth disappearing into confusion. "Wh-what?"

Paine has her arms crossed over her chest, a hip cocked to the side. This is the part where Yuna would expect her to say something sharp, or walk away. She doesn't. She raises an eyebrow, but there's something in the way she looks at Rikku-- oh. _Oh_. Yuna... knows that look.

"I'm Rikku," Rikku grins, her voice something Yuna has never heard her use. "What's your name, beautiful?"

It's... she's flirting. Yuna's never really heard her flirt before, not like this. She doesn't think she likes it.

"Paine," Paine says in return. Her eyes are heavy and dark, flitting downward, then back up. "Are you coming, too?"

"Well," Rikku tilts her head to the side, "I figured you guys could come with me."

Paine's face hardens a little. "I've got a job to do."

"We both do," Yuna says. It's not as loud as she wants it to be. Paine's eyes don't so much as flicker her way.

Rikku shrugs. "Sure, but do you really want to walk the whole way there?"

"Who says it's far enough to matter?"

"All that food in your bag," Rikku says, matter-of-fact. "Yunie doesn't eat that much, so you must be going far."

Paine rolls a shoulder, drawing attention to her sword. "I'm not giving up my cut."

Rikku shrugs again. "Don't have to. I just wanna see what you're up to."

For a while, they stare one another down. Paine's face doesn't change, but Rikku's grin slowly widens.

"Fine," Paine concedes, rolling her eyes. "You can come with."

"Me and Brother," Rikku corrects, the picture of innocence. "We'll be double the trouble."

Paine doesn't agree to that, but she doesn't say anything else, either. When Rikku starts skipping off toward the Fahrenheit, Paine's eyes start on the back of her head, then sink lower. Yuna bites the inside of her cheek, but in the end, she follows them both. She tells herself she's okay with this, that this will save them a lot of long, hard walking.

(She lies. She's become so good at lying to herself.)


End file.
